Bedclothes-holder.



J. 'I'. COWLES. BBDGLOTHES HOLDER. APPLIOATION FILED uns, 1909.

Patented J an. 28, 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. COWLES, 0E CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BEDCLOTHES-HOLDER.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that IVJOHN T. CowLEs, a citizen of the United/ States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Bedclothes-Holders, ofwhich' the following is a full; clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to improvements in bed clothes holders. Itsobject is to make a simple and efficient bed clothes holder that will beconvenient in use and economical in manufacture.

To the attainment of these ends and the accomplishment of other new anduseful objects as will appear, the invention consists in the features ofnovelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of the severalparts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and shown in theaccompanying drawings, illustrating an exemplification of thisinvention, and in which;-

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of the device applied to thefoot or side rail of a bedstead, the view being from the eX- terior ofthe bedstead; Fig. 2 is a vertical sect-ion of the device, showing thejaws open to receive the bed clothes; Fig. 3 is a vertical section ofthe device applied to a bedstead, showing thejclothes fastened thereby;and Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the curvature that may be used in oneor both of the jaws for the purposes hereinafter described.

This device comprises, generally speaking, two jaws 1, 2, preferablymade of angle liron of the form shown, but which, of

course, might readily be made of other material and`of other shape.These jaws are designed to be movable with relation to each other forthe purpose of receiving the bed clothes between them and securelyholding them `until it is desired to remove them. To

4'5 accomplish this result, one of the jaws, preferably 1, being theinner one, is mounted on the top of the upright standards 3, 4, whichare provided with suitable means on their lower extremitiesforattachment to a bedstead. Hooks 5, 6 are shown on the lower extremities,and hook bolts 7, 8, provided with winged nuts and passing through thestandards, serve as one means for accomplishing this result. Two or moreholes for hook bolts 7, 8 may be formed in standards as indicated bv 10,.thus allowing the device to be attached to angles varying in Speceationof Letters Patent.

Application tiled April 5,

Patented J an. 28, 1913.

1909. serial No. 487,985.

size. The upper ends of the members 3, 4 are preferably deflectedinwardly, in order to bring the stationary jaw 1 firmly into contactwith the mattresses and thus insure firm contact between the .mattressesand bed clothing.

The movable jaw 2 is mounted on mem-` tions of levers 19, 20 may bedeflected out wardly to make them more accessible to the operator.

By reference to Fi 2 and 3, the operation and control of t e jaws isbest understood. Then the lever 19 is raised upwardly, the link 15operates to open the jaws. After the clothing is inserted, the downwardmovement of the lever likewise closes the jaws. In order to securelyfasten the clothing, the jaws are locked together when the lever 19 isin its lowermost position, or approximately in contact with theangle-iron member 25, to which the device is shown attached, by reasonof the fact that as the lever 19 is moved downwardly, the lineconnecting the pivotal points 17,Y 21 on link 15 approaches the pivot-alpoint 23 of the lever 19, and in the lowermost position passes below thepivotal point 23. When the part-s are in this position, as shown in Fig.3, it will be seen that pressure tending to open the jaws 1, 2 will pullthe lever downward and against the member 25, so locking the jaws thatitis necessary for the lever to be moved upwardl until the line of thepivotal points on the link again passes above the pivotal point- 23 inorder to separate the jaws and release the clothing. The form shown offastening the angle Jaws to the supporting members is preferred. The Yor pressure on the bed clothing throughout the ends and will, of course,

the entire length of the clamping jaws, one or both of the jaws may begiven a gentle curve near the middle, which curve should be deflectedtoward the other jaw in the manner shown by. the full lines 26, 27, inFig. 4. The jaws 1, 2, being supported near being of considerablelength, it is evident that without this curvature, on accountof theflexibility of the metal, their holding power near the middle would notbe equal to that near the supporting members. The degree of curvaturerequired vary accordin to the materials used and the distanceetweensupports.

In order thatthe invention might be fully understood, the details of anembodiment thereof have been thus specifically described; but

What I claim is 1. In a device of the character described, thecombination of two jaws movable relativev to each other, of standardssupporting one of the said jaws, a plurality of members pivoted to saidstandards and carrying the other jaw, a plurality of levers pivoted tosaid standards and links pivoted at one end to said levers and at theirother ends to said pivoted members carrying the other jaw.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with two jawsmovable relative to each other, of means adapted to control positivelythe movements of said jaws and to lock them in closed position, saidcontrolling and locking means embodyin an upright standard supportingone of sai jaws, a member pivoted to said standard and carrying theother jaw, said pivoted member extending below its pivotal connectionwith said standard, a lever pivoted at one end to said standard, a linkoperatively connecting,r said lever with the lower end of said pivotedmember and adapted to cause the line passing through its points ofconnection with sald lever and sald pivoted member to approach thepivotal point of said lever on said standard as sald jaws are movedtogether, and means for securing said jaws to a bedstead.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 3rd day of April, A. D.1909.

lJOHN T. oowLEs.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. SEEM, J. H. JOCHUM,.Jr.

